By Star Chang, posted Jan 8, 2013 at 12:28 PM, 565 views,

“Chinese Pirate” Pleads Guilty to Steal US$100 Million Worth of Military Software

A Chinese dude pleaded guilty to selling pirated software—used by defense, space technology and engineering businesses—worth a retail value of over US$100 million. According to Reuters, these software was stolen from an estimated 200 American manufacturers, including Microsoft, Oracle, Agilent Technologies and Siemens, and sold onto 325 black market buyers in 61 countries between 2008 and 2011. The price was sold at between US$20-$1,200. Some of the software are officially retailed for more than $1 million apiece …

The China businessman from Chengdu trolled black market internet forums to find the software, and people with the know-how to crack the passwords needed to run the program. Then he advertised them for sale on his own websites. He transferred the pirated programs to customers by sending compressed files via Gmail, or sent them hyperlinks to download servers. He did not realize it was a big crime for this. US agents spend 18 months working undercover in order to finally catch him, eventually buying software worth $150,000 off him for just a couple of thousand dollars. He was finally lured to the U.S. territory of Saipan from China, under the premise of discussing a dodgy joint business venture.

The “Chinese pirate” originally charged in a 46-count indictment, pleaded guilty to single counts of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright violations and wire fraud. In recent years, U.S. officials have targeted software pirates overseas but bringing them to the United States has proved difficult. We believe the story wh heard is juicy enought to become hollywood movie script, it’s certainly a Chinese version of ‘Catch Me If You Can’ …

SOURCE: REUTERS via GIZMODO